


The Cat’s Out of the Bag

by mewrose



Series: Cat Chat [1]
Category: Persona 4, Persona 5
Genre: Drabble, Yu loves cats, accidental stalking, he's seriously obsessed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-28
Updated: 2020-06-28
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:53:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 803
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24954853
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mewrose/pseuds/mewrose
Summary: Yu sees a high school boy carrying a cat in his school bag. Then the cat talks.
Series: Cat Chat [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1813609
Comments: 9
Kudos: 346
Collections: Quality Persona Fics





	The Cat’s Out of the Bag

Yu stifled a yawn as he trudged down the stairs into the subway station. He’d been up too late last night working on a paper for one of his college classes, and he still felt half asleep. He was about to stop by the little convenience store in the station for a cup of coffee when he noticed a black-haired boy in a school uniform walk by. Specifically, he noticed that the school bag sling over the boy’s shoulder had a cat head sticking out of it. He instantly felt more alert as his eyes tracked the black-and-white creature. Well, that was an odd place for a cat.

Unconsciously, he started heading in the boy’s direction even though it wasn’t the way he needed to go, as he wondered if the cat was real or a very realistic stuffed animal. It blinked and looked around, which looked real enough, but it could theoretically be a very advanced toy, programmed with realistic movements. Then to his delight, the cat pulled itself half out of the bag and up on the boy’s shoulder, apparently to look at the phone the boy was holding. Yu couldn’t help grinning at the sight. He’d never seen a cat act like that before, but there was no way a mere toy could do _that_.

A moment later the boy stopped at a train platform, stuffed the phone back in his pocket and looked idly around. His roving gaze stopped when his eyes met Yu’s, and they narrowed slightly. Yu realized with a touch of embarrassment that he was staring at the cat and grinning like a fool. Well, to be fair, he _was_ a Fool.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t realize I was staring,” Yu said, taking a step closer to be in a reasonable distance for a conversation. “I just couldn’t help noticing you had a cat in your bag. Makes me wonder if I could get away with bringing one to class,” he said with a chuckle.

The boy nodded silently, but the cat bristled and yowled indignantly, “I’m not a cat!”

Yu blinked, then calmly answered, “Oh, sorry for the mistake then, I didn’t mean to offend you.”

The cat – or not-cat – started to grumble something, then in unison he and his boy both stiffened and looked at Yu sharply.

“Wait…you can understand me?” the not-cat asked, his tail twitching back and forth in an obvious sign of intense interest.

Yu gave him an unconcerned smile and responded, “Yes, of course,” as calmly as if he were commenting on the weather.

The not-cat and his boy shared a look, before the boy asked, “And you don’t think that’s weird?”

Yu just shook his head placidly. “Not at all, I’ve seen far stranger,” he said in perfect honesty. Like falling into a TV and ending up in an alternate world. Or seeing all of his friend’s negative thoughts suddenly turn into a giant monster. Or Teddie. A talking cat-but-not-really wouldn’t even make the Top 10 list of strangest things he’d ever seen. Even if, as the little guy’s question implied, only a limited number of people could understand him.

The boy gave Yu an appraising look, then asked, “Who are you?”

Yu answered easily, “Yu Narukami, a student at Tokyo University. And you are?”

There was a pause as the boy clearly considered the question before answering, “Ren Amamiya, a second-year at Shujin Academy.”

“Nice to meet you, Amamiya-kun,” Yu said politely before looking expectantly at his furry companion. When he was met with only silence, he prompted, “And your name?”

The apparent feline seemed surprised at being asked, but answered, “Morgana,” which made Yu grin again.

“It’s nice to meet you, Morgana. Sorry again for staring before, you’re so handsome I couldn’t help it,” he said warmly. That made the tiny tuxedo-clad gentleman perk up and send a smug look at Amamiya, who ignored him.

Amamiya opened his mouth to say something else, but stopped when he saw a train pulling into the station. Instead he whipped out his phone and asked, “Can I get your number? I’d like to chat more with you later.”

Yu immediately pulled out his own phone and said, “Gladly, especially if it means I get to see Morgana again.” Amamiya gave him a slightly exasperated look as they quickly exchanged numbers, then he ducked into the train just as the doors were closing.

Yu gave the pair a wave as the train pulled away, then turned to head for the line he needed to catch. He was looking forward to talking to them again, and wondered if he would find out why not many people could understand Morgana. But mostly he was hoping he’d get to pet Morgana and find out if the not-a-cat felt like a real cat.


End file.
